The Last Day
by KingdomHeartsRazor
Summary: Randy Cunningham had finally defeated the Sorcerer and life at Norrisville is significantly more pleasant. Everyone is happy and everything is almost perfect. But, no one knows, not even Randy himself that the hero can't stay and enjoy the fruits of his hard labor. [Now a Two-shot]
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Aiyaa, this FanFiction is...well, I'll let you read on and find out. I hope you enjoy this short one-shot. Also No Yaoi, just friendship fluff and a slice of life. By the way, this is after Randy defeats the Sorcerer; however he defeats him. I just needed to write this to vent some energy at 1am in the morning.

Disclaimer: I do not own 9th Grade Ninja

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**The Last Day**

Randy Cunningham had defeated the Sorcerer about a month ago and life was almost perfect. It was tough work, Randy had to admit, he and Howard almost died, but it was worth all that trouble. Now kids could go to school without the worry of rampaging monsters anymore. There was the occasional criminal squabble here and there, but it was no problem for the Ninja of course. A few kicks here and a punch there and it would all be over in a smoke-bomb. Life was certainly easier for our hero; he didn't have to go Ninja all the time, which allowed him to focus more on his studies.

Personality-wise, Randy had also matured greatly and was able to manage his time much more nicely than before, able to perfectly balance playing Grave Puncher and wasting time with studying and working on homework. Randy's grades had increased tremendously and his mother couldn't be prouder, not to mention he had gotten a kiss on the cheek and a box of chocolates from Theresa on Valentine's Day last week. He also got featured on Heidi's webcast as the most popular student alongside Howard. School life was good.

The Ninja Nomicon had sacrificed itself to protect Randy in the final battle and the only thing Randy would regret is not able to save the book as well, but the book had assured to him that he would succeed. Only after the final battle did Randy realize that only the book's "death" had given him the final push to finally end the Sorcerer once and for all. In a way, he was thankful for that.

On the other hand, McFist had realized the error of his mistake after the Sorcerer had harmed his family and was now an honest business man. The man had become more devoted to helping the poor and Viceroy had retired from being an evil scientist and currently lived in a pleasant villa on the more quiet side of Norrisville with his faithful amoeba pet, Nicholas, fully paid by his boss of course. Even Bash seemed to respect him.

No, Life couldn't get any better than this Randy decided and he was satisfied. He liked this new lifestyle.

There was one problem though. Ever since the final battle, he had been more and more unwilling to leave the comfort of his own bed. Even though his grades were almost perfect, he occasionally dozed off in class too. Randy also felt an unsettling feeling of weariness, no matter how much rest he got, but every day, he found the will to force himself out of bed to start his day. Randy was happy of course, so this small problem wasn't a really a bother to him.

Today, on Saturday in summer, he and Howard were going to test their new Soda-pop rockets in the park, which he had promised Howard to do before he Final Battle as a promise that he would come out of it okay. He did, so a promise was a promise, after all. Afterwards they were going to have a picnic with Theresa and the others. This day he had to forcefully wretch himself out of his bed, declining the temptation of falling back to sleep. No, for some reason he actually refused to go to sleep, even though he knew that if he went now to the park, he would be way too early. Randy pulled on his McClothing, grabbed his soda-rocket and shuffled out of his home. His parents were still asleep and he left a note on the fridge saying that he had left early for the park.

Randy looked around at the peaceful Norrisville morning. It was so peaceful; he could stay in this blissful life forever. He was aware of the worldwide problems, but it never affected the small town of Norrisville. He had nothing to worry about, he decided. The boy walked into the park and found the meeting place where Howard and he were supposed to send off the soda-pop rockets. He sat down on the nice cool grass.

It was just so peaceful and quiet, it must be a nice day today, Randy decided. The songs of the wind and the whispers of the grass around him lulled him into a sleepy trance. The purple-haired boy reminisced about his life. About how he one day walked in his room to find the Ninja Mask there, about how he had fought restlessly every day to protect everyone, about all his battles and how he won them, about all his mistakes and how he had fixed them, about how he had promised Howard that they'd be friends forever and that he'll win the final battle, about how the Nomicon had blocked the Sorcerer's attack that shattered it to pieces, about how he had poured out his soul onto his sword so he could slice the Sorcerer in half which finally ended his reign of terror. He had done everything he had wanted to do, Randy decided. The boy sprawled himself on the grass.

Why was he thinking about this? It wasn't like he was going to die anytime soon. He chuckled. Randy wanted to sleep, but something kept him awake. After a while of waiting, he heard the cheerful shouts that originated from his friend's voice.

"Cunningham! You're way too early!"

Randy looked up to see his rather chubby friend running towards him. He propped himself on his elbows so that he could look at Howard better when his friend breathlessly came up to him.

"Same can be said about you, buddy." He grinned stupidly. "I couldn't sleep, so I decided I'd come here early."

"I just saw Theresa and the others coming." Howard answered, plopping himself next to Randy. "They'll be here soon."

"That's Bruce! That means we can launch the soda-rockets earlier!" Randy said, flipping himself on his stomach so he could find his rocket.

"I know right? It's weird how everyone woke up early today." Howard wondered, handing his friend his rocket which was just outside Randy's reach.

Randy and Howard sad blissfully continued their nonsense chatter together, unaware that it was their last. They talked about pointless things, like how the lunch lady made the best gravy fries or how the next Grave Puncher game was coming out next year. Even about what they're going to do tomorrow. It was such a pointless conversation, but neither minded since they were together, and that's all that mattered.

"Hey Howard, you know you're my best friend right?" Randy said to him. The boy wasn't even aware that he had said that.

"What are you talk about you schoob, of course I am." Howard said with a horrified look on his face. "Stop talking like you're going to die today, geez Cunningham."

"I know, I know." Randy said with a hazy look on his face. Then he chuckled. "It was a spur of the moment I guess."

"Well stop it, it's weirding me out." Howard replied, giving Randy a glare.

Before Randy could respond, he suddenly heard distant conversation and heads bopping in the near-distance. He grinned excitedly at Howard.

"Hey look! I see Theresa and the others!" Randy said, leaping on his feet and swiftly grabbing his soda-rocket. "Let's launch the rockets as a welcoming to them!"

"Yea! So we can eat straight afterwards!" replied Howard, taking his soda-rocket in his right hand.

The two best friends began to wildly shake their rocket and quickly set it on the ground. The rockets erupted, launching itself into the air. Theresa and the others arrived to see the rockets swirl in the air in an uncoordinated dance before falling to the ground. Soda sprayed everywhere, and all of the sudden, everyone erupted into joy.

Randy and Howard exchanged their signature handshake, which they had made up when they were little. It was such a simple kid thing, but every time they did it, they felt their bond together tighten. They ran around with the others, who happened to be Debby Kang, Bucky, Heidi, Stevens, and countless other friends. The friends ran around together, trying to catch the soda water as it rained down from the sky with their tongue. The shouts of joy and laughter drew many others to join in on the fun.

Soon the soda rained had stopped and the friends sat down for the picnic. After Randy and Howard had eaten their fill, they climbed a hill where they planned to watch clouds before heading to Greg's Gaming Hole to play arcade. They continued their pointless chatter together, laughing and reminiscing about how well their life had gotten since the defeat of the Sorcerer. No, life was good, even though no one knew that Randy had risked his neck to save Norrisville. Not yet anyway. Randy had planned to tell them next week during the school assembly.

It was a nice day, the best day ever, Randy decided as he lay down on the soft grass. He heard the wind sing again and the grass whisper to each other. He yawned. The boy had almost forgotten he was sleepy, but now that he was sitting still, he felt the weariness creep back into his bones. Randy glanced at Howard who had fallen asleep beside him, which only made him sleepier. Then he glanced at Theresa and the others who were chatting away nearby the hill they were resting on. He looked up to the sky and decided that he wanted to listen to the wings sing in his ears again. Randy put his hands behind his head, enjoying ever last bit of what he saw. It was his last one, but he didn't know that of course.

Randy didn't know that the darkness that started to invade his vision was permanent. He also didn't know that when he had poured his heart and soul onto his sword to defeat the Sorcerer that he didn't get enough back. Randy didn't know that he had only got just enough so he could fulfill his promise, the promise to shoot their soda-rocket with Howard. He just thought about how fun it was going to be after he woke up. He was going to beat Howard at the arcade again and get his picture taken on the wall. Randy chuckled softly to himself at the idea. He can't wait for that.

So he willingly closed his eyes, letting the bathe him in the warm sunshine as he fell into a peaceful slumber.

But you know, he never did wake up.

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I'm so sorry I wrote this.  
It started as a random drabble at 1AM in the morning, but it then morphed into this sad tale. I just...I don't know. Ugh...

In case you didn't understand the ending, yes, Randy had died in his sleep because he had unknowingly had sacrificed his soul to defeat the Sorcerer, but through sheer will he had lived long enough to allow himself to fulfill his promise to Howard, which was this silly wish to shoot a soda rocket together. I wanted Randy to die sleeping on the grass, so I came up with that stupid promise so they could go to the park :I

This was inspired by the Main Protagonist's death in Persona 3, which I swear was the most depressing thing ever in the history of games. I was also urged to write this after hearing "If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback and unofficial score of Rue's Lullaby.

Aiyaa, I wrote such a depressing story...


	2. Chapter 2

Will you look at that, I made this a two-shot. Yea, I got multiple demands for this to have some sort of story after Randy died. Not only on , but on deviantArt where I uploaded it to.

I'm sorry if this doesn't have the same feels as the first one does because I merely wrote the first one on a whim I felt 1am in the morning. I wrote this one after I recovered from an illness so this one might not be as good. You may as well just not read this one, but you can.

Anyways Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own 9th Grade Ninja.**

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CHAPTER 2

"NinjaNomicon!" Randy said in horror as he saw the book bursts into flames. He clutched his chest as if he himself had taken the blunt of the attack. With a fire in his eyes, he glared up at the Sorcerer. "You'll pay for that!"

"We'll just see about that, Ninja!?" the Sorcerer bellowed and rose up onto the higher platforms.

Randy was just about to leap back into action. Despite his grievous battle wounds, the Ninja was still up and fighting hard. Howard had to admire that, but not yet. Howard reached over with his stubby hands to grab his friend by the shoulder and yanked him up close to his face.

"Howard! What are you doing?" Randy said, trying to pull away from Howard's grip. "Let go! I need to go defeat the Sorcerer!"

"Listen to me Cunningham." Howard said with the most serious look on his face. "You promise you'll come back so….so…so we can shoot those soda-rockets we never finished. If you don't…"

Howard's voice trailed away and right away Randy realized what he meant. He gave his best friend a one-armed hug. Howard was too surprised to say anything, but to let his friend hug him.

"Don't worry about it." Randy said with a kind smile, taking a step back. "'I've always made it out fine. Watch me."

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_Watch me. _

Yea, right, like that was true. On normal circumstances, Howard would have liked to rub it in his face that he was wrong, like he always did when he was wrong, but not this time. He wasn't there for Howard to rub it in his face. Not ever again.

Is this really what's happening? Howard sometimes asked himself. Sometimes he felt like he was still here and just waiting to pop out, scare him, and they would laugh about it. Sometimes Howard waited for those times; waiting by a corner for him, but the surprise never came. He should know better, of course. It's been almost a year already after all. A year since that day…

Howard decided that he disliked living…Living without him anyway. Sure everyone showed him sympathy and kindness, but that isn't what he really needed. He needed him to spring magically to life again, but this was no fairytale. People told him that that he didn't go away in vain. Well, they told him that after Howard revealed his true identity as the Ninja of course. No one believed him at first, but when the Ninja never came back, they started to believe, one by one. Soon enough, there was a proper memorial for him, but it didn't matter. Not to Howard anyway. No memorial was going to bring him back. Nothing really was going to bring him back…but that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part is that Howard sometimes did see him. Walking down the street or at the arcade playing some game sometimes saw him mingling in the crowd and not once did he look Howard in the eye. Perhaps he was going crazy, but Howard didn't really mind as long as he saw him. Maybe he needed to be getting some help, but it didn't really matter.

One day he didn't see him at all. Howard had panicked and searched high and low, but he didn't see him. The next day too and the next week, he didn't see him. Not even a single glimpse. After a month of not seeing him, Howard realized that he was finally accepting that he was gone. Howard made new friends of course, particularly hanging around Theresa and the others more, and he was having fun. Finally enjoying life since that day, sometimes he wouldn't even remember him.

It scared him sometimes that he didn't remember him frequently, but sometimes Howard felt like that was what he wanted. That he wanted Howard to forget about him and move on.

But, Howard knew that he _couldn't_ forget. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. There was no way.

His grave, was a cute grave, Theresa had said to him one day. There were always fresh flowers decorating the memorial. It made the atmosphere smell nice. To Howard, it smelt revolting. It always made him sick to think about that this was for someone he knew. Someone who was close to him. Someone who was like a brother. Someone he thought that would never go away. Or so he thought.

On the way to school one day, Howard decided he would take the route where he would see the memorial, as a change of scenery. He didn't know why. He just had to see the memorial that day.

He saw the memorial at the end of the street. There was someone in front of it, but he didn't realize who it was until he was already approaching the entrance of NorrisVille High.

_He_ was standing in front of the memorial gates, staring proudly at the memorial. In his hand was a black book with red markings and in the other hand was an empty soda bottle which Howard soon realized was an empty soda rocket.

Howard could only smile back when he turned his head to look at him in the eye.

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Ve~ If you didn't understand all that, let me break it down to you. Sometimes when somebody dies, you end up _still_ seeing them after their death, sometimes mingling in a crowd or something. It's a psychological thing we humans sometimes do after something tragic happens. Howard here has been hallucinating about seeing Randy after his death and in this very short story he notices that he's slowly starts to accept his friend's death, which is Howard seeing less and less of his hallucinations.

At the end Howard sees "Randy" one last time before entering the school, which is a closure that he finally accepts his friend's death and will most likely move on in his life.

Don't ask for a sequel here because I have no idea where this would lead to.

Aiyaa, I think I lost the feels of the first chapter though. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed it, guys.


End file.
